Link chain for electric illumination



July 4, 1933. w. REICHMANN 1,916,489

LINK CHAIN FOR ELECTRIC ILLUMINATION Filed Oct. 10, 1930 Z0 l/enz ar:

W17 4 1 .22] ZZ Patented July 4, 1933 1 pair s'rres WILHELM REICHMANN,on WUPPERTAL-BARMEN; GERMANYQASSIGNQP. T0 ALBERT Anni-inns: sonsmnn, orZURICH, swrrz'nnniin'n, AND

IVIANN, 0F BARMEI T, PRUSSIA, GERMIANY o'r'ro Hummer: antimala- Link'oHAIN IEOR ELECTRIC ILLUMINATION Application filed October 10, 1930.

The present invention relates to a link chain of the type employed inelectric illuminations and advertising.

The existing kinds of link chains of this class suffer from the drawbackthat the bulbs are connected in series so that the current has to passthrough all units of the chain and the latter will be extinguished ifone of the units becomes defective or burns out or is loosened by theaction of wind, etc. F urthermore, there is no chance of leaving out oneor several lamps to obtain special lighting effects, since that wouldinvolve an interruption of the current. Besides, in series connectionthe last as well as the first link of the circuit must be continuouslyand directly connected to the source of current by auxiliary lineswhich, if used in the open air, must be carried in lead-covered cablesin accordance with the safety regulations adopted by most countries. Itis evident that electric lighting arrangements containing lead-coveredcables or having them wound around them do not make a good impression inshowwindows, for example, or in electric advertising designs, aside fromthe fact that such lines raise considerably the cost of the outfit,require special mounting and cause numerous troubles.

Another defect of the known link chains is that in order to establishmechanical connection between the links a bulb has to be screwed in andthat, if the bulb gets loose, the entire chain will fall into pieces.

The invention eliminates the defects mentioned by embedding in the linkstwo or more current-carrying conductors, each of which touches one lampcontact. For example, if a bulb is put in, it is inserted between twoconductors, i. e., connected in parallel, and mechanical connectionbetween the links may be established, for instance, by recessing theembedded current-carrying parts so that they snap into each other.Furthermore, the s ring-actuated contact plate engages, for example, ata contact point a corresponding recess of the correlated link.Therefore, mechanical connection is established independently of thelamp socket and supported thereby. It would, therefore, be possible toar- Serial No. 487,884.

range the lamp socket in the center of the link.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawing, in which Figure l is a View of a chain; Fig. 2, a longitudinalsection Fig. 3, a cross section of a chain link; Fig. l, a top View of alink; Figs. 5 to 8 represent the current-carrying parts; and Fig. 9 is alongitudinal section of two connected links.

Referring to the drawing, in a body a made of insulating material or thelike and consisting of one or several parts two conductors b and c areembedded, one of which connects the sockets (Z of all bulbs and theother one, their center contacts. The center contact parts may forinstance be recessed at e and f and provided at the same points withcorresponding elevations cr knobs which elastically engage the recesseswhen the links are put together, current being transmitted to thesockets by an elasti c contact plate 9 which engages a recess of thebody a. The lamp socket is preferably arranged in the axis of rotationof two links, though it may be positioned in 7 the center of the linkswithout the least trouble.

The employment of parallel connection af- .fords also an opportunity ofproviding angular, cross and T-pieces and, contrary to existing chains,of producing any lettering and form of chain in a manner resembling pipelaying. For example, an angular unit is made exactly like a standardone, but provided with two cast-011 lateral rectangular webs, in which,starting from the center, contact pieces are embedded.

Compared with the existing kinds of chains, the chain according to theinvention will accommodate all sorts of lamps, such as, for instance,lamps for direct current supply, low voltage lamps in connection with atransformer or converter, etc.

I claim 1. A link chain for electric illuminations and advertisingcomprising a plurality of links of insulating material and metallicconductors connected in parallel, each link being in the form of anelongated block having passages therein for the metal conductors and at.1

lamp socket for each link in electrical con-- tact with at least one ofthe metal conductors saidsocket being provided in the axis of itsrespective link.

2. A link chain for electric lamp illuminations andadvertisingcomprising a link C0111- posed of a pair of metal conductorsand an insulating material, one conductor having a pressed recessforming a knob at each end thereof and the other conductor being incontact With a lamp-socket at each end thereof whereby theyinaybe---snapped to adjacent links by the knob and recess connection of thefirst inentione d conductor and the socket "Contact .of tlieotherl'co'nductor; 1

In testimonyyvhereof I affix signature.

; Y-WLLHELM REICHMANN.

